Gary Shapiro | All Articles

Gary Shapiro

Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,000 consumer electronics companies, and a New York Times best-selling author. His views are his own. Shapiro’s latest book, Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses, will be released in January. Connect with him on Twitter: @GaryShapiro.

President Trump was elected in what coastal elites consider flyover country – swing states rich with electoral votes but places where inequality between the rich and poor is perhaps most striking. In these states, Trump leveraged the dissatisfaction of older working-class Democrats. Exit polls confirm Trump won the hearts of union households, substantially narrowing the gap between union household support for Democrats versus Republicans, compared to the 2012 presidential election.

Imagine if left-wing labor union leaders set the rules for American businesses – who works when, who earns what, how many ‘extras’ all of us must pay for. Actually, that doesn’t require much imagination at all, because that’s precisely what has happened the past seven years.

One of the proudest days of my life was when I passed the bar exam, more than 30 years ago. But today, I often hide my legal background when I meet people. Simply put, I believe lawyers are in many ways hurting our nation.

Thursday’s passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in the House is a win for U.S. exports and manufacturing and a strong sign of support for policies that promote economic growth – at home and abroad. Now, as the TPA debate shifts back to the Senate for a final vote, we urge the Upper House to pass this legislation and support the 21st century digital economy.

I like to think I’m among the majority of Americans who want a better government for my family, my colleagues and my community. I’d welcome basic competence, but will settle for generally rational decision-making. Good governance should not be a party differentiator; and based on recent actions (and inactions) by both sides, poor decision-making can be a bipartisan affliction.

After the recent controversies involving deadly police incidents in Missouri, New York and elsewhere, state and local governments are re-examining laws governing citizens’ rights to record on-duty police officers in public spaces. Citizen photography and videography give us accountability over law enforcement activity – the technology to do so rests right in our palms – but some police advocates claim that snapping away or filming is a threat to public safety and an invasion of privacy.

If you were diagnosed with hearing loss and had the choice of a $1,000-to-$6,000 hearing aid or a device that could improve your hearing for just one tenth of that price, I am confident you would choose the latter. Not surprisingly, a new survey from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) finds there is strong demand for these lower-priced devices, called Personal Sound Amplification Products (PSAPs).

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles’ recent efforts to shut down ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft highlights a troubling trend of bureaucracy straining to protect outdated business models. From television-streaming services to vacation rental sites, today’s cutting-edge business models are challenging the status quo. And in this period of rapid innovation and technological growth, businesses and the regulators that govern them must adapt.

The United States leads the world in the commercialization of the Internet. This is not only good for the investors and employees of Internet companies; we all benefit as these entrepreneurs pay taxes, create jobs and provide services. Today we buy and sell cars online. And groceries. And books and computers and plane tickets. More, we turn to the Web to find answers to just about all of our questions. Across the board, the Internet is one big economic bright spot in the U.S., creating new opportunities and enhancing our lives.

When I began my career, it was impolite to discuss one’s religion, sexual preference, politics or pay. Today, this cultural zone of privacy is collapsing as social mores, the Internet and even the law have shifted the playing field of personal disclosure. In many ways, we have gone from “Don’t ask, don’t tell” to “I have a right to know.” The result is a workplace culture of labels and distrust, as personal information – especially salary details – becomes everybody’s business.

The leaders of the world’s most successful technology companies know they always face a choice: continue to innovate or become irrelevant. New products and services are constantly upending the status quo, and companies that aren’t looking ahead get left behind. This fierce competition drives our economy and is the backbone of the American dream.

We live in dangerous times. Government agencies charged with keeping us safe must have access to information to protect us from terrorists and other threats. But we do have and need Constitutional safeguards. If last year’s revelations about the National Security Agency’s collection of Americans’ phone and Internet data taught us anything, it’s that we need a national discussion on how our information is obtained. As we search for a balance between protecting privacy and maintaining security, we must understand exactly how private our information is.

Thirty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a landmark case that paved the way for an explosion in digital recording technology innovation. Products and features we take for granted today – MP3 players, iPods, DVRs and so much more – would not exist if the Court had ruled the other way in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, more commonly known as the Betamax Case, in 1984. Now, as innovative new services offer consumers greater access to content and more control over how they get to it and where they store it, Sony’s precedent is being threatened.

We have a holiday to celebrate our nation’s independence, a holiday to be thankful, holidays to mark religious milestones, and even a holiday to begin the New Year. What we need now is a holiday to honor and tell the truth.

When we talk about American exceptionalism, we think of examples like Apple, a bevy of Internet companies, biotech, Hollywood, medicine and space flight. American creativity gave birth to all of these things and much more. But while the glamorously inventive intellectual property ventures capture headlines and kudos, breakthrough innovations in drilling have been quietly transforming our nation’s economic, manufacturing, and even foreign policy prospects.